COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nearly one month after lawmakers gave an okay for the state health department to move from its current Bull Street location to Colonial Life Boulevard, the move is on hold.
“The department of administration subsequently was notified that the offer made for rental space at 1200 Colonial Life Boulevard has been withdrawn,” a Joint Bond Review committee member said.
In a December joint bond review meeting, lawmakers were informed that a previous proposal moving the Department of Health and Environmental Control from Bull Street to Colonial Life Boulevard is on hold.
"They undoubtedly had another offer or they decided to withdraw their offer. So we don’t have that location any longer,’ Senator Katrina Shealy said. She was one of the lawmakers who initially approved the plan.
Colonial Life owns the property the state planned to lease for new DHEC office space. In a statement the insurer's parent company, Unum, said: “The availability of space at 1200 Colonial Life Blvd for the State to lease was contingent on Unum reaching a formal agreement with the current tenant… Such an agreement was never reached.”
The DHEC move was part of a larger plan to relocate several other state departments as well, including the Departments of Mental Health, Disabilities and Special Needs, and the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services or DAODAS.
Shealy said the moves for the other departments are still in place, slated for a location in Cayce. Meanwhile, DHEC has to look for a new home, which could cost more but it will still happen.
“Put it on hold for a while it’s not gone change the fact that we are going to do something. It’ll just put it off for a little while,” Senator Shealy said.
She added the hope is by January there will be a new proposed location for DHEC.